After Out Comes In
by themarchgirl
Summary: And sometimes, sometimes he was cute in an entirely not-cute way. Sam/Freddie.


**This**** is my first Sam/Freddie fic. I wrote it for my friend Alyssa for her birthday a few months back. I hope it's okay, and feedback is greatly appreciated. C:**

* * *

She bit into the Fatcake angrily, almost tearing at the plastic with her teeth.

She was so confused.

* * *

Okay, so flashback to two weeks ago, right?

She was laughing with Carly about a prank on a teacher she successfully pulled off that day, when Freddie arrived in his annoying dorky way, smiling at Carly.

And then he offered her a tiny smile too.

She was momentarily puzzled, but shook it off.

"What are you smiling at, dweeb?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

..._dweeb_.

* * *

Then two days later, okay?

They're rehearsing iCarly, as normal, seeing how much cotton candy they can eat in thirty seconds, as normal, when the lighting fails.

...because Freddie forgot to back it up with his hyperdrive thingy.

"God, Freddie, you're so _stupid_," Sam whined. "You're useless."

She'd expected an angry retort, a roll of his eyes, but not for his shoulders to droop and his eyes to fill with hurt.

"Sam," Carly murmured. "Shut up."

Sam turned to her friend, who was looking at her reproachfully.

"What?"

Carly sighed, but let it go. "Can you fix the lights?" she asked him quietly.

He tapped some more keys and then exhaled through his nose.

"I don't know. We used them too much and I can't back them up because I lost my hyperdrive. I'm sorry."

Carly patted his arm. "Don't worry. We'll find your hyperdrive."

He nodded and dropped his arms from his tech-cart. "I'm going to take off."

Carly nodded too and watched him go. Sam gaped.

"We're not done rehearsing! You're letting him be lazy!"

Carly looked at her for a moment. "I'm hoping you'll understand one day."

Sam blinked. "So do I!"

Carly bit her lip and wrung her hands.

"Tell me," Sam demanded.

"I can't. I promised."

"You promised _what_?"

* * *

She wasn't sure she actually liked hurting his feelings.

Which was weird, because she insulted him all the time.

She'd brushed off the other night as him being tired and mad at himself too, but the next day he seemed visibly upset when she told him no girl would ever love him if he carried a light-up pen.

Why did she even care that he was upset?

_Maybe,_ the voice in her head that sounded a lot like Carly said, _maybe you care about him._

That was crazy. Sure, they were _sort of_ friends. She _tolerated _him. She didn't hate him as much.

Except that he made her laugh and sometimes, _sometimes_, he was sort of cute in a completely not-cute way.

It was ridiculous.

How was she supposed to concentrate on faking her mom's signature if he was sitting right there?

He was two rows in front of her, yes, but he was bigger than he used to be.

Like, taller, and his shoulders looked stronger, and so did his arms, and, uh.

Anyway.

* * *

She ended up on the steps outside instead of going to fifth period.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees. This was so weird. She'd never felt like this.

"Hi."

She looked round.

Freddie was standing behind her, clutching the strap of his backpack, looking extremely nervous.

"Wow, Benson," she said. "Not like you to skip."

He went to sit down next to her, but managed to trip a bit and sprawled on the concrete, wincing.

She snorted. "Nice."

He ignored her and straightened up, shaking his head to get rid of the dust in it. It wasn't working, so she reached up and ruffled his head for him.

When she took back her hand he was staring at her, his cheeks red and his eyes wide.

"What?" she snapped and he composed himself.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

She stretched her legs out and noticed him glance at them and swallow.

"Dude, what's up with you lately?" she asked.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish for a few moments before he looked away.

"Freddie, come on, why won't you tell me?"

"You'll laugh at me."

"No I won't. It's not like you're in love with me or anything, it's fine."

He stiffened.

She almost said his name again, but then realisation hit her like a huge anvil.

"Oh," she said quietly, as explanations for everything raced through her mind.

He cleared his throat, still refusing to look at her.

His hand was resting on the concrete between them.

_Go on. Take it._

Why?

_Because you want to._

She slowly reached for his fingers, and then pulled them in between hers.

His head swivelled towards her, shocked. He looked down at her fingers and then back at her face again.

She smiled a bit, squeezing his hand. He gave her a half-smile, and there was something in his eyes that she'd never seen before that she couldn't place.

She scooted a little closer and leaned against him a little, bringing their hands up and onto their touching knees.

So she was guessing this was the day she was going to understand.


End file.
